of family and friendships

have been quite busy these days and the only fun thing i've done is to catch the latest movies showing in the big screen.

The Hangover
Directed by: Todd Phillips
Produced by: Todd Phillips and Daniel Goldberg
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Justin Bartha, Ed Helms, Zack Galifianakis, Heather Graham
Studio: Legendary Pictures
Distributed by: Warner Brothers
Running Time: 100 mins

The main plot follows four friends who travel to Las Vegas for a bachelor party, only to wake up the next morning not remembering a thing and missing the groom, whose wedding is scheduled to occur the next day.

I have been wanting to watch this movie since it was released in the US on June 5, 2009, mainly because of hottie Bradley Cooper (He's Just Not Into You, Wedding Crashers, Yes Man) but also due to the comedic premise of the story. True enough, the movie did not disappoint. It was a lot of fun to watch, with lots of running and chaos as they try to retrace their steps and remember what they did the night before. The four friends had different personalities but the actors had great chemistry and worked well together. All throughout the film, it will show you bits and pieces of where they went to and what they did but every thing's mixed up until the last part where they find their digicam and played all the pics..that's when you'll find out the actual order of events. Though the story was simple (it happened in just 2 nights) but the outrageous things they did were imaginative.. from discovering a tiger in the bathroom, to the baby stashed inside the cabinet, to finding out one of the guys married a stripper. and the whole reason why they were retracing their steps? it's to look for the groom..since they didn't know where he was. when the movie finally reveals where the groom is, you would prolly go and say, "Duh!" Anyways, all's well that ends well and the groom makes it in time for the wedding and they toast to the most memorable nights of their lives. As they saying goes, "What happens in Vegas..stays in Vegas!"

The Time Traveler's Wife
Directed by: Robert Schwentke
Produced by: Brad Pitt, Nick Wechsler, Dede Gardner
Starring: Eric Bana, Rachel McAdams
Distributed by: New Line Cinema (Warner Brothers)
Running Time: 107 mins

This romance-drama was adapted from the novel of the same name by Audrey Niffenegger. Based on the premise of The Time Traveler's Wife, a Chicago librarian (Bana) has a genetic disorder that causes him to time travel randomly. Though he often disappears from her life for long periods of time, he tries to build a romantic relationship with Clare Abshire, an artist (McAdams).

I knew about the novel but never had the chance to read it. And when i found out it was going to be made into a film with Rachel and Eric as leads, I thought that i would just watch this movie instead. I only knew the basic plot of the book so when my friend and I watched this movie last night, we had no clue how it would end. (and learning from my experience with my sister's keeper, i decided bring a box of tissue with me.. hehe).

Since the plot dealt on time travel, the scenes alternately showed Eric and Rachel at different ages, starting from how and adult Eric met then 6-yr old Rachel in the meadows, to meeting while they're both of the same age, and sometimes Eric showing up a bit older. Sometimes it was confusing to note how old Eric is since the main clues are how clean-shaven (young) or unshaven (older) he looks or if his hair is brown or showing some gray hairs. Rachel, on the other hand, mostly remained normal, as the adult Rachel, except for 2 scenes when she was 6 years old and 1 scene when she was 18 and they had their first kiss.

My friend and I felt sad for Rachel, who loved Eric so much that she married him despite knowing his condition. We felt sad whenever Eric disappears and seeing Rachel tirelessly waiting for him to come back, most often not even knowing when or if he will ever come back. For the first few months after they got married, it looked like they were doing well and getting used to the weirdness of their relationship but then two things happened that threatened their happiness: one, finding out that rachel is pregnant and she keeps losing the baby (we later find out the baby has the same time traveling condition) and two, finding out that eric will not live long. These two things were the main drivers of the story, and I was intrigued to see how it would work out. I thought how Eric died was so lame ("that's it? that's how he died?") and the movie is different in that in the other time travel movies (ex. frequency, back to the future), the time traveler usually can do something that can change the course of his life, but here, he can't do anything, even if he wanted to (ex. preventing his mom from dying in a car accident or preventing him from getting killed). On the other hand, despite him dying, the ending felt fake (unreal) when he came back again when the baby is older (years after he died).. making it look like he will never really die, he will always time travel and somehow find his way back to his family. The only thing is that he can never stay long anymore.

I had more tears flowing when i watched My Sister's Keeper (because it was about death) while this one was more of the love between husband and wife and their daughter. Nevertheless, I loved the movie, it was sort-of a happy ending yet we left the cinema with a sad heart.

(ps. i loved the little girl who played the 6 yr old...she was so pretty and it was funny how she got jealous when she found out the adult Eric is married.. of course she didn't know it was the adult her he married.. hehe)